A Rainy Day Activity
by Dude13
Summary: There's still plenty of ways to amuse one's self while helplessly cooped up inside, although they're not exactly amusements to some as they are extraordinary annoyances. [Oneshot]


Just a little light-hearted piece I came up with, nothg more, nothing less, nothing special, probably falls into a similar plot structure as earlier fics, etc, etc.

I'm really just taking it down a notch or two after my last fic, as some of you may recall, which was a bit...um...a story where "over-the-top" would be describing it extremely lightly..

Disclaimer: I don't own Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

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"The floor is hot lava! The floor is hot lava! Can't touch the floor, 'cuz it's made of hot lava!" 

Goo sang out happily in a slapdash tune as she leapt gracefully off the overstuffed armchair, flopping safely upon the couch lying not too far away. Upon making contact with the soft cushions, the bubbly little girl immediately scampered back to her feet to flash a ridiculous toothy grin at her playmate.

"C'mon Mac, let's go! Your turn, your turn!" she trilled, bouncing up and down in gleeful encouragement. Not far away, the eight-year-old boy returned the smile as he poised himself to make the tricky jump.

"Hold on, gimme a sec!" he laughed. "I gotta make sure I'm gonna make it!"

"Oooooh, watch out!" Goo giggled madly, enjoying the game immensely. "Don't touch the floor, or else _you're_ gonna get burned!"

Mac grinned, drew back a little, and then with a swift burst of energy the child jumped from the chair and hurled himself into the air, as if fired from a miniature catapult.

"OOF!" Mac grunted as he made a landing not nearly as spectacular as Goo's. After landing gut-first against the armrest of the large sofa, the boy immediately began to scrabble furiously against the piece of furniture, a look of panic suddenly adorning his features as he struggled madly to get a good hold.

"Augh!" Mac yelped in dismay as he slowly slipped from his precarious perch. "Help! Help!"

"Gonna get burned! Gonna get burned!" Goo only laughed uproariously in delight, immediately dashing to his aid and grabbing hold of his wrists. Quickly bracing herself, the little girl gave one fierce tug, and immediately her friend was hoisted up onto the couch, helplessly caught up in the momentum of her pull. Both of them squealing loudly, they tumbled across the sofa in an undignified muddle until they came to an abrupt halt, lying in a tangled mess and both nearly hysterical with laughter.

"Woohoo! Again! Do it again!" Goo giggled as she unsuccessfully worked to pull herself from the mess. Trembling with mirth, Mac stuck out his tongue impudently as he met with a similar lack of success in freeing himself.

"Ha, no way! Not _that_ again" he chuckled joyfully.

"Hey! What about _me_?" The whiny cry suddenly interrupted their merriment. The pair turned almost simultaneously to lay their eyes upon an azure blob, perched upon an old coffee table a few feet off.

"C'mon, get out of the way!" Bloo yelped impatiently, furiously gesturing with a stubby appendage for the duo to move aside. "I'm goin' next!"

"Go for it, Bloo!" Mac laughed, quickly scuttling to the far end of the sofa.

"Just don't touch the hot lava!" Goo squeaked again, jabbing at the floor as she hastily crawled to the opposing end of the couch. Bloo just grinned craftily as he prepared himself for the tremendous leap.

"Ha!" he scoffed haughtily. "I've been playing this since I was created, and I haven't been burned once, you hear me? Okay now, get ready! Here….I…go-_YEEEEEK_!"

The little imaginary friend screeched in shock as a pair of hands expertly nabbed him just moments before he could launch himself clear across the room. His eyes nearly bulging from their sockets in his horror, Bloo wailed in fright as he waved his blobbish arms wildly in a frantic attempt to squirm free of his captor's iron grip.

"AAAA! Lava monster!" he screamed, thrashing about with the strength borne of desperation. "Lemmego! Lemmego! Lemmego!"

As the little imaginary friend wiggled about for dear life, the stonefaced Mr. Herriman only increased the tenacity of his hold as he shook his head resolutely.

"Ooooh, not on your life, Master Blooragard!" he growled threateningly. "Honestly, jumping about on the house furniture like a bunch of hooligans? What on earth made any of you think you'd be able to get away with such tomfoolery under this roof?"

"Because the floor is hot lava, see, and we'll get burned if we tou-" Goo hastily began to explain before her friend quickly cut her off to plead from a more logical standpoint.

"Oh c'mon, Mr. Herriman!" Mac pleaded. "We were only playing, we weren't-"

"_Playing_?" the austere rabbit shot back incredulously, shooting the children a frosty glare. "Oh, and I suppose I should just let you continue to cause a horrendous ruckus and get your mucky footprints all over the furniture just because you tell me that you're _playing_?"

At this Mac clamed up immediately, averting his gaze and guilty blush away from the furious-looking Head of Business Affairs.

"Y-yeah…" the usually effervescent Goo managed to mutter softly, shooting the stern figure a weak grin before helplessly withering under his harsh glare.

"Ooooh, and don't even think for an instant that _this_ is going to be as bad as it's going to get for you rapscallions!" Mr. Herriman warned them all sharply, his voice dripping with strict austerity. "Just as soon as a certain house caretaker finds out she suddenly has to tend to cleaning up the filthy footprints due to some scoundrels' careless horseplay, then you'll all be-"

"_WATCH OUT, MR. H_!" A horrified scream suddenly cut the imaginary rabbit off in mid-scold. Whirling about, Mr. Herriman didn't even have so much as one split-second to even elicit a quick whimper before it felt like that he had been rammed by a freight train.

Bellowing in shock, the muddle of rabbit, blob, and mysterious assailant tumbled together head over heels before coming to an abrupt halt, lying upon the floor and hopelessly entangled in a catastrophic mess.

"Medic!" Bloo wailed unhappily as he struggled to free himself from the chaotic pile.

"Hold on, we're coming!" Mac yelped, breaking the rules of the game and scampering across the floor to the scene of the disaster.

"Wee-woo! Wee-woo! Wee-woo!" Goo squealed, trying to mimic the sound of an ambulance siren as she raced hard upon her friend's heels.

However, as the pair worked furiously to help pull the victims of the horrendous disaster free from their awful predicament, Mr. Herriman barely even noticed the self-appointed rescue team's presence. Rather, the dumbstruck rabbit was having enough trouble as it is coming to terms with the identity of his mysterious attacker, who lay helplessly pinned beneath him and completely exposed.

"M-Miss Frances?" he gasped, going slack-jawed with shock.

"H-hi, Mr. H…." the girl giggled weakly in embarrassment, her usually peach-toned facial complexion starting to rapidly sport a fine shade of vibrant crimson. For a few moments, he was completely at a loss for words, unable to do a think but remain sprawled atop her like a lump and furiously struggle to comprehend her sudden appearance. Finally though, as Mac and Goo managed to yank him off the caretaker and drag him into a clumsy sitting position, the badly shaken rabbit finally managed to find his voice again, though only after what seemed like an eternity.

"Miss Frances…" he began in a low whisper, "What….were…you…_doing_?"

Liberated from the nightmarish tangle, Frankie scrambled into a sitting position, hugging her legs and rocking back and forth anxiously as she struggled in vain to explain herself, although the words were not coming to her nearly as easily as she would've liked.

"I-I….I was trying to make a jump over to the couch see, and….well, you were in the way, and I couldn't…I tried to warn you, and--"

"Jumping to the couch?" Mr. Herriman shot back, gawking at her in utter disbelief. "For goodness sake, young lady, _why_?"

Frankie smiled wanly as she continued.

"Well…the floor was made of hot magma, see, and I….well, I didn't want to touch the floor or else I…I would get burned, and then…and I'd…uh…"

Realizing how ludicrously foolish she sounded, the young woman simply allowed herself to trail off, opting instead to go silent and let her head sag dejectedly in the matter of a naughty toddler caught robbing a cookie jar.

"So let me get this straight." Mr. Herriman grumbled fiercely as he clambered back onto his feet. "You are trying to tell me that _you_, instead of tending to your duties as house caretaker as you should be doing, have instead been deliberately shirking all your chores for the sake of playing a silly child's game?" he barked.

"I…I, um…." Frankie could only murmur, choosing to stare at the floor rather than make eye contact with her incensed employer. Whimpering softly, Mac came to her aid and plodded to her side, giving the girl a hug as he glanced up meekly at the disciplinarian.

"It was…well, actually, the whole thing was…uh…we asked her to play with us, and-" he began to mumble in defense for the girl.

"Yeah see, when we asked her, see was busy doin' lotsa laundry, and at first she said no, but we just wouldn't leave her alone, we were all "c'mon Frankie, let's play" but she was like "No way, I gotta do my work and be a contributing member to the household and stuff," and then we were all like-" Goo began to babble up before Frankie suddenly motioned for the pair to be silent.

"No, no, don't say anything like that guys." She pleaded with them softly, trying to conjure up a shred of a reassuring smile. "It's okay, I'll tell him what really happened, it'll be alright, just-"

Mr. Herriman cocked an eyebrow. "Tell me _what_, Miss Frances?"

"Well….to tell you the truth…." Frankie muttered, squirming about wildly under his scornful eye, "I…well….the game was kinda _my_ whole idea, see, and-"

"_Miss Frances_!" Mr. Herriman bellowed. "Never in all my years have I….for goodness sake, young lady! What on earth has gotten into you? Here I am expecting you to be tending to the laundry or giving the foyer a long overdue sweeping, an instead I find you instead not merely joining in some foolish game, but actually acting as ringleader as this band of miscreants? Honestly, I don't know what to say, this is just the most appalling thing I've ever…gah!" he cried, throwing up his arms in the air in exasperation. "I simply don't believe this! You've practically managed to make me think that you're nothing more than a four-year-old little girl in the body of a twenty-two-year-old young woman! Is that what you want Miss Frances? Well?"

"I…I, um…." Frankie strove furiously to find something even close to resembling a logical response. "I just wanted….well, they told me they had nothing to do, and….and….well, they didn't know how to play the game, so I wanted to show them by… um….and then I….and then….and…"

"_And_?" Mr. Herriman scowled, tapping his foot impatiently. Chewing her lower lip anxiously, Frankie stared back blankly into his frosty glare for a moment, then turned her gaze upon the trio of little ones that stood huddled about her, each one the perfect picture of misery now that the game was over. Frankie glanced at them for a few seconds, back at her enraged employer, back to the children and imaginary friend, back to the rabbit…

And it was then that the crafty glint suddenly appeared in her eyes, quickly followed by the devious smirk.

"_And_, Miss Frances?" Mr. Herriman growled.

"And….you're _it_!" Frankie suddenly squealed gleefully, leaping to her feet and poking him squarely upon the nose, forcing him to elicit a grunt of surprise.

"Young lady, what on earth-" he yelped, trying to bat her hand away. Grinning impishly, Frankie just danced out of his reach, sticking out her tongue impudently before darting off.

"You're it! You're it! You're it!" She burst out into song, chanting it over and over as she bounded out of the room. "You'll never find us, never in a million years! C'mon, guys!"

The eager little ones needed no second bidding, and immediately they shot of like rockets.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Bloo squealed in joy, dashing off behind the giggling redhead.

"Woohoo!" Mac whooped happily, scampering off to join the group, following by the madly tittering Goo.

"Badger can't catch us! Badger can't catch us! Nyah, nyah, nyah!" she taunted playfully, blowing a messy raspberry at the stunned rabbit.

"What on earth-" Mr. Herriman muttered dumbly as the group dashed into the foyer, following the caretaker's lead.

"Everyone for themselves! Last one to get found wins! Don't let ol' Fuzz-Butt catch you!" Frankie laughed uproariously as she bolted up the staircase with the trio following closely at her heels. In an instant, a very stunned Foster's Head of Business Affairs found himself all alone, standing dumbly in the middle of the living room, and looking extraordinarily confused.

"I….I….oh goodness, I don't have the time for this…this sheer nonsense!" he muttered bitterly to himself, quickly snapping out of his shock. Tucking his paws neatly behind his back, he briskly whirled about to make the short trip back to his office.

"Honestly, they expect me to join them in their infantile rubbish? Bah! The very thought of it! I simply don't have the time to be bothered by such foolishness, I'd rather br making myself useful than rushing about like some-_OOF_!"

He emitted a loud grunt of surprise as the end of a cane suddenly appeared from nowhere to jab him sharply in the gut. Struggling to regain his shattered composure, the frazzled rabbit suddenly came face-to-face with a craftily grinning old woman.

"Madame?" he gasped bewilderedly. "What do you think you're-"

"I believe the way the game goes is that _they_ hide, _you_ seek." Madame Foster calmly explained in a very matter-of-fact tone. Immediately her imaginary friend's jaw dropped like a stone as his arms went limp at his sides like a pair of wet noodles.

"Madame, you're not _really_ suggesting that I actually-" he murmured incredulously.

"Rules are rules, you know." Madame Foster just quipped, flashing him a devious smile. "At least, that's what _you're_ always saying, isn't that right, Funny Bunny?"

Stunned by total disbelief, he just stared at her blankly for a few moments, furiously trying to find a counter-argument to her succinct but brilliant logic.

"I don't believe this…" he finally groaned, shoulders sagging dejectedly as he began to make his way towards the staircase. "Never in all my life-"

"Lighten up, you big crybaby you. Maybe you'll have some fun." Madame Foster teased as she hobbled along by his side.

"Madame, _please_…" he moaned imploringly.

"Oh hush up. At least when you find them all, you can try and have Frankie organize another game for the little ones. Say, have you ever heard of one called "The Floor is Hot Lava?" It's simple, all they need to do is…"

**The End**

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For all those who never played, the game goes exactly as explained in the story. The whole idea is that the floor is supposedly hot lava, and all you have to do is avoid touching it. 

As usual, thanks for reading! Feedback is always appreciated!


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